Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo (2023) read like fiction, although it is an exhaustively-researched true story.
Ellen and William Craft were enslaved in the same town in Georgia, married, though living in different households. Ellen, a seamstress, was a very light-skinned woman and the half-sister of her owner’s wife, and William was a skilled carpenter who was routinely used as skilled labor by others who paid his owner for his work. In 1848, they conceived a plan to escape in full sight.
Ellen would pose as a young, disabled white gentleman, and William as her slave, as they rode the train from Georgia north. Ellen had the skills to tailor clothing that would help her pass, so they set out early one morning.
It worked! They were hundreds of miles away before anyone knew they were missing, They made it to Philadelphia, then Boston, and eventually Canada and England before they were finally safe.
They went on the lecture circuit and spoke with other abolitionists and self-emancipated persons. Meanwhile, the Fugitive Slave Act made their exile in Canada and England necessary, as their owners sent slave catchers after them.
The book was well-researched and the narrative was gripping. The author alternated between telling the story of William and Ellen, specifically, through letters and newspaper articles, then drawing back and giving the broader perspective of what was happening in the world at the time.
I highly recommend it. It was also free from anti-fat bias.
Reading While Fat 